With the increase in personal computer users and the increase in complexity of software programs, the programs need to compensate for the less sophisticated users. One of the major problems facing personal computer users is the keyboard layout. The placement of graphic keys and function keys varies greatly from program to program. The ability to move the key definitions gives the user a way to lessen the confusion when executing different programs.
The typical way of changing the definition of keys is through a file built by the user. That file has the syntactical statements that modify keys. The syntax of those statements varies from program to program. The set of keys that can be moved also may vary from product to product. Some of these files modify the keyboard layout used by the operating system. Some modify the keyboard layout used within a program. In some cases, both kinds of redefinition can be active simultaneously causing compound redefinition. It is very difficult for the less sophisticated user to understand how and when these redefinitions occur.
Consequently, a user friendly technique is needed which facilitates the changing of the users' keyboard layouts. This technique should be easily understandable. It should lessen the confusion between different physical keyboards, different functions, different graphics keys and different native keyboard layouts. It should allow a user to modify all keyboard layouts encountered in a complex product with a common key definition facility.